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Phonics vs Whole Language

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Phonics vs Whole Language
To use Phonics or Whole Language? That is the Question There is a battle going on elementary schools across the Globe. This battle is not a malicious battle fought with armies and weapons of mass destruction, but rather a tactical battle where the two opponents are known to us by the simple phrases, phonics and whole language. These two opponents use very different styles, but those who use a certain style swear by it almost religiously. Seriously, though, one might be asking the question which is the best method for teachings young students how to read? Honestly, there is not a simple answer; education specialists have been arguing over the issue of phonics vs whole language for years and a definite answer still has yet to be determined. Literacy has a plethora of aspects that really depend upon the student's learning style, and since no student learns exactly the same it really is impossible to think that one particular style is superior to the other. Hopefully by reading this paper and gaining information on both methods one will be able to conclude which style he or she prefers. The first method to be discussed will be that of phonics. Phonics provides students with the understanding that there is a relationship between phonemes and graphemes, and that letters represent sound in written language (Brooks 36). Basically, this means that teachers focus students more on learning the individual sounds that letters make and then learning how arrange these sounds to form words and thus read words. The English language has 44 phonemes that can be combined to form words ( Books, Melanie 273). This seems like a lot of information for a young student to remember, but phonics has always and will always be a bottom-up process. Phonics is a sequential process where students will master that art of acquiring linguistic components and rearranging them. Students will start off with the very basics like learning the sound a letter makes, then they will continually


Cited: Brooks, Harper. Shelton, Patricia. "Revisiting Whole Language Development: A Transactional Approach to Learning." Research for Educational Reform. Vol 8. 2003: 35-42 Brooks, Melanie. Brooks, Jeffery. Whole Language or Phonics: "Improving Language Instruction through General Semantics." Review of General Semantics Vol 62. July 2005: 271-280. Collins, James. "How Johnny Should Read." Time Vol 150. October 27, 1997. "Let 's Get Hooked on Phonics Again." Toronto Star. May 24, 2005. "Students Poisoned by Whole Language." USA Today Magazine. Vol 134. December, 2005.
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